Posts Tagged ‘ranking’

Last month, Yoni Alpert’s Terror Watch reported that Iranian Revolutionary Guards along with Hezbollah’s security apparatus arrested Hussein Fahs, who is considered Hezbollah’s CFO and head of the organization’s operational communications network. Fahs was arrested at Beirut’s Hariri Airport, on his way to an unknown destination. He and four other Hezbollah members were interrogated on suspicion of embezzling the organization’s funds and of collaborating with Israeli Intelligence. At the time it was suspected that they stole at least $5 million in Iranian aid funds.

Now it turns out, according to TW, citing Lebanese sources, that Fahs, a 29-year-old telecommunications engineer, a native of southern Lebanon, was able to flee the country, crossing the border into Israel.

According to official Hezbollah sources, Fahs took with him maps, classified documents and a large sum of money.

In somewhat related news, on Tuesday a Lebanese Military Tribunal Judge by the name of Imad al-Zein issued eight arrest warrants against Lebanese citizens charged with collaborating with Israel, Lebanon’s National News Agency reported.

According to the report, seven women and one man are charged in absentia with collaborating with Israel, entering Israel illegally and obtaining Israeli citizenship.

The suspects face 15 years of hard labor in prison—but, naturally, they would have to be captured first

The eight are also natives of southern Lebanon.

According to Nahar Net, Lebanese authorities have arrested more than 100 people on suspicion of collaborating with the Israeli spy agency Mossad since April 2009, including high-ranking security and telecommunications officials.

According to a new study released Tuesday, Israel is the world’s second most educated country, after Canada.

The “Education at a Glance 2012” report analyzing members of the OECD found that

46% of all 25-64 year-olds in Israel have a higher education. Canada rated 51%, with the third highest – Japan – following at 45%. The United States has a higher education rate of 42%, with the average OECD state registering 30%.

Israel also ranked high in the percentage of graduates of upper secondary education and the number of hours children spend in the classroom.

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the Technion Israel Institute of Technology, and the Weizmann Institute of Science were ranked in the top 100 universities in Shanghai Jiao Tong University’s authoritative 2012 Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU).

The Hebrew University achieved the highest rank – 53rd, with the Technion in 78th place, and the Weizmann Institute coming in at 93rd. Significantly, this is the first time that more than one Israeli university made the top 100.

The ARWU has conducted the rankings since 2003, and is regarded as one of the most influential international university rankings. Over 1200 universities are considered and the top 500 are ranked.

Topping the list was Harvard University, which has done so in each of the ten years that the rankings have been conducted. Altogether, seventeen US universities made the top twenty; the UK’s Cambridge University(#5) and Oxford University (#10), as well as Japan’s University of Tokyo (#20) also made it into the top twenty.

Hebrew University jumped four spaces since last years rankings, and has improved considerably since the first ranking in 2003, when it was ranked 94th. The Technion and Weizmann Institute experienced a significant jump in their rankings, with both breaking the top 100 for the first time; in 2011, both ranked in the 101-150 bracket in 2011. Ranked according to specific fields, the Israeli universities fared even better: the Weizmann Insitute ranked twelfth in computer sciences, the Hebrew University ranked sixteenth in Mathematics, and the Technion ranked 29th in chemistry.

Altogether, six Israeli universities made it onto the list: Tel Aviv University ranked in top 101-150, while Ben Gurion University and Bar Ilan University ranked in the 301-400 bracket.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, commenting Wednesday on the publication of the rankings, said: “This ranking proves that our Government’s unprecedented investment in Israeli academia has led to results. We are investing NIS 7 billion in universities, in a multi-year plan, in centers of excellence, in bringing Israeli minds back home, and our efforts are bearing fruit.

“I am especially happy over the high ranking of Israeli institutions in computer science – with four Israeli universities among the 30 leading institutions in the world,” he continued. “This is another sign that Israel is continuing to establish itself as a global high-tech power. My Government will continue to invest in education – from pre-school to higher education.”

Minister of Education Gideon Saar and high ranking officials of the educational system toured Hebron this morning, visiting the Machpela Cave, the Tomb of the Patriarchs, and participating in a Brit ceremony taking place at the time. Minister Saar was honored during the ceremony. The newborn was named Maayan Avishai, named after his uncle Avishai Schindler, who was murdered by Arab terrorists on August 30th, 2010 together with three other Israelis.

Minister Saar later recited Psalms in the Abraham Hall at the Machpela Cave, and then visited the Avraham Avinu synagogue and finally, Beit Hadassah.

Last year Minister Saar initiated a new program whereby Israeli schoolchildren would visit Hebron and Ma’arat HaMachpela, the roots of the Jewish people. Since the inception of this program, hundreds of children have visited Hebron.

Today the Minister was accompanied by the senior staff from the education ministry, allowing them to experience the same tour given to Israeli school children.

The Education Minister is one of several senior officials who have recently visited Hebron.

The Moody’s credit rating agency lowered its outlook for the credit rating of Israel’s banking system from stable to “negative,” due to the economic challenges it faces in the next 12 to 18 months.

However, the agency did not lower the ratings of the banks themselves, and only two weeks ago has ratified the Israeli economy’s ranking with an A1 rating and a “stable” outlook. Moody’s also noted the Israeli economy’s proven resilience in the past.

The main reasons Moody’s offered for the potential downgrading are the slowing down of Israel’s economic growth in 2012, which is expected to shrink from 4.8% to 2.8%; the challenges posed by Israel’s geopolitical region; and difficulties in exporting Israeli goods to Europe.

A bill sponsored by Knesset Deputy Speaker Danny Danon (Likud) who also chairs the children’s health parliamentary lobby, and MK Rachel Adatto (Kadima ), is seeking to outlaw the use of underweight models in Israeli advertising, and to discourage Israeli media from using ads which were produced abroad and feature exceedingly thin models.

MK Dannon’s Senior Advisor Jonathan Daniels told the Jewish Press the bill was conceived after a group of legislators visited a clinic for critically underweight patients and met with anorectic patients. “It was horrific,” Daniels said. “And we didn’t see just 15-year-old anorexic girls, there were men, and older women. It was incredibly distressful to see them. They were close to death.”

Daniels argued that “by putting forward this legislation that enables healthy people to be seen” in media advertising – “that’s by far the best approach.” In the bill authors’ opinion, “largely people who are underweight are not healthy people, these aren’t happy people.”

An extension of the bill to include restrictions on underweight foreign models will be introduced on Monday, at the Knesset Labor, Welfare and Health Committee. The bill will then be put to a vote on second and third reading by the full Knesset.

Daniels said that at this point the bill will exempt foreign magazines that are distributed in Israel. “First we have to make sure we take care of what’s being done in Israel,” he said.

Daniels acknowledged the inevitable conflict which the bill creates between public health and freedom of speech, but reiterated strongly the state’s right to decide “the content of magazines that our children read.”

He also suggested underweight models were being abused by their employers, who demand of them to remain at an unhealthy weight in order to remain employed.

According to the World Health Organization Statistical Information System, Israel ranks 19th in the world in the number of deaths from anorexia, with two cases annually. The United States and Japan rank first and second, with 218 and 186 deaths respectively.

Former foreign editor of the Jewish Chronicle and the literary editor of The Jerusalem Post, enthusiastic Blogger Miriam Shaviv cites a study conducted in Jerusalem (Benaim, Turel & Sznajderman, 1998), which reported that “religious Jewish girls with anorexia nervosa present for treatment at a lower body weight and have a higher hospitalization rate than their non-religious peers.”

Another study (Harel & Molcho, 2000) found that poor body image is more common among girls in Israel than in other Western countries. The study analyzed data from a World Health Organization survey that compared eating behaviors among thousands of 6th to 10th graders in 28 countries. More than 70 percent of Israeli girls want to change their body (ranking fourth among the 28 countries), according to those findings, and about half feel too fat (ranking 17th). In addition, one quarter of Israeli girls are dieting, peaking at one third in 10th grade. This rate of dieting ranks Israel as first among 28 Western countries.

In the ranking of wealthiest politicians in the country by “Forbes Israel”, the top seat goes to Minister of Galilee and Negev Development Silvan Shalom who is worth an estimated at NIS 167 million. Shalom was formerly Israel’s Foreign Minister, and also Israel’s Finance Minister.

Minister of Justice Yaakov Ne’eman is in second place, with a financial worth of NIS 100 million. Minister of Defense Ehud Barak, in 3rdplace with a fortune estimated at NIS 70 million. MK Meir Sheetrit (Kadima) comes in fourth at NIS 55 million.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in fifth place, with a fortune estimated at NIS 38 million.